Art of making metallic cartridge-shells



(No Model.) 2 Sheet$heet 1. A. DIOKERMAN.

ART OF MAKING METALLIC CARTRIDGE SHELLS. No. 313,187. I Patented Mar. 3, 1885.

2 Sheaetas-dheet 2.

I odel.) I v A. DIGKERMA I ART OF MAKING METALLIC GAR I E SHELLS.

I No. 313,187. Pqt entedwMah s, 1885.

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AMOS DIGKERMAN, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

ART OF MAKING. METALLlC CARTRIDGE-SHELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 313,187, dated March 3, 1885.

Application filed December 27, 1883. (N model.) i

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AMos DIOKERMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of'Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Making Metallic Cartridge-Shells, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is'a View of the cup, as it is called. Fig. 2 is a View of the shell before the flange is formed. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the center of the shell, and shows the hollow flange. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the shell through the center, and shows the base in position and. the hollow flange compressed into the usual form of a solid flange. Fig. 5 is a view of the cylindrical base. Fig. 6 is aview of aport-ion of the slide or gate in a common press for punching sheet metal and of'a punch inserted in the same.

, metal being upset to form the flange.

Fig. 7 is a=view of a portion of the bed in a common press on which the die rests and of a die, cartridge-shell, and base in section.

Heretofore metallic cartridge-shells for reloading have been made with solid flanges, the This mode of making metal shells for reloading required heavy machinery, and that the sheet metal from which the blanks or cups for the shells are punched should be of sufficient thickness to be upset, and much thicker than would be otherwise required.

The object of my invention is to allow thinner sheet metal to be used in making metal shells for reloading, whereby less reduction of thickness is required to bring the shells to the proper thickness, and the process of making shells isgreatly simplified. To this end the invention results in reducing the number of steps in the processes required to make metallic shells for reloading, and in employing a novel step in their manufacture, consisting in forcing the base into the hollow flange, clamping the hollow flange onto that part of the base withinthe flange, and forming the pocket at one and the same operation.

To enable others to employ my improved process for making metal shells for reloading,

I will describe itand the means, so far as is necessary, by which the process is conducted.

The cup shown in Fig. 1 is punched from sheet metal andraised to the form shown at one operation. The cup isthen drawn to the form shown in Fig. 2. The hollow flange is then formed in the head of the shell. The cylindrical base is then inserted into the shell. The base is made of a softer metal or alloy than the brass shell into which it is inserted, and an alloy of one hundred parts tin, of fifteen parts antimony, and of three parts copper makes a good composition for the purpose. base. The base is then forced into the hollow shell, the hollow flange is clamped or compressed onto that part of the base within the hollow flange, and the pocket is formed at one operation. All these several steps or operation are performed by means well known to those skilled in the art, and the means. therefore, need no description, with the exception,

perhaps,of the means for forcing the base into the hollow flange, clamping the hollow flange onto that part of the base within the flange, and forming the pocket at one and the same operation. These means consist of a perforated die, A, Fig. 7,. into which the shell nicely fits, ofa cylindrical piece, B, fitting the interior of the shell and having its upper end rounded or semi-spherical; The piece Bis A roll of paper may be used for the centrally arranged in the perforation in the die and forms a partof the same.

The means consist, further, ofa punch, 0, having a central projection or nipple, a, to form the pocket, the diameter of the punch being greater than the diameter of the head of the shell. As the punch is moved downward it carries the shell with it, forces the base D into the hollow flange, forms the pocket in the head of the shell, and clamps the hollow flange onto that part of the base within it.

A metallic shell made as above described presents the same external appearance as a shell with a solid and upset head; but the forward end of the base is concave, whereby the recoil of the gun is diminished. As the hollow flange is compressed upon that part of the base extending into the same, and as the strain on the interior of the shell is in the direction of its diameter and notin the direction of its length, and does not therefore tend to open or separate the hollowflange from that part of the base which is compressed by it, no fire ICO can pass around that part of the base within the flange, get between the base and the end of the shell, loosen the base, and destroy the shell.

As the pockets of metallic shells for reloading madein the ordinary way with solid flanges and thin heads are the parts that fail, it is obvious that shells made of thinner metal and with a base of any desired thickness to protect the pocket as above described may be fired and reloaded a greater number of times than ordinary metallic shells for reloading.

The only novel step, considered by itself, in the above process is clamping the hollow flange onto that part of the base within it. The other steps, considered by themselves, are old.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The herein-described improvement in the art of making metallic cartridge-shells, con 20 AMOS DIOKERMAN.

Witnesses:

GEORGE TERRY, ARTHUR E. HOTOHKISS. 

